Prompt 20.08 (adult content)
"Mountains make you crazy; here it's safe and sound
My mind is somewhere hazy, my feet are on the ground
Everything is balanced here, and on an even keel
Everything is perfect, nothing's real"
from "I Miss the Mountains" from Next to Normal
(told as flashback, events occurring about 15 years earlier than present day)
Mia woke up, her head pounding. She looked around, relieved to see that she was in her room. It wasn't Tom's...which explained the headache. She hadn't stayed at his place for a while...at least a month.
She went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She had to admit, she looked like hell. Even without remebering the nightmares, she knew they must be there, she was just blocking them with the pills and alcohol. The kitchen confirmed just how much of the latter she'd had ~ four empty wine bottles sat on the counter. Tears filled her eyes as she sat down on the futon, pulling her knees to her chest.
It wasn't the first time she'd hated herself after. Yeah, it helped for a little while, they let her sleep and at least not realize she was having the nightmares, but to keep the demons at bay, she had to keep up the pills, keep up the wine. And what used to work wasn't enough anymore. It was the mornings that slapped her face with the knowledge that the world she created for herself in that self-medicated haze wasn't real.
As she rocked back and forth, she ran her fingers over the scars on her wrists. They weren't what everyone assumed...the cops, the doctors, even the lawyers. Until the monster slipped up in the interrogation room and mentioned the slashed wrists on the girl he'd "done". Thank God the cops had the foresight not to release that little detail to the press, just on the off chance Mia wasn't lying about slashing her own wrists after... No one believed her.
Except Tom.
And she'd shut him out of her life when he questioned her on her "medicine" one too many times. Did she even dare to go to him now? What would his reaction be? Sure they'd been inseparable ~ like brother and sister before, but now...?
Mia had to take the chance. She threw on a Boston U hoodie over her pajama pants, slid her feet into some flip-flops, and walked the few blocks to Tom's place. She stood in front of the door for a long moment before she got up the nerve to knock. She bit her lip and shifted from foot to foot, looking up when he opened the door.
"Hey..." she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I... You were right... I need help."
Mia Harding
Original Character
My mind is somewhere hazy, my feet are on the ground
Everything is balanced here, and on an even keel
Everything is perfect, nothing's real"
from "I Miss the Mountains" from Next to Normal
(told as flashback, events occurring about 15 years earlier than present day)
Mia woke up, her head pounding. She looked around, relieved to see that she was in her room. It wasn't Tom's...which explained the headache. She hadn't stayed at his place for a while...at least a month.
She went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She had to admit, she looked like hell. Even without remebering the nightmares, she knew they must be there, she was just blocking them with the pills and alcohol. The kitchen confirmed just how much of the latter she'd had ~ four empty wine bottles sat on the counter. Tears filled her eyes as she sat down on the futon, pulling her knees to her chest.
It wasn't the first time she'd hated herself after. Yeah, it helped for a little while, they let her sleep and at least not realize she was having the nightmares, but to keep the demons at bay, she had to keep up the pills, keep up the wine. And what used to work wasn't enough anymore. It was the mornings that slapped her face with the knowledge that the world she created for herself in that self-medicated haze wasn't real.
As she rocked back and forth, she ran her fingers over the scars on her wrists. They weren't what everyone assumed...the cops, the doctors, even the lawyers. Until the monster slipped up in the interrogation room and mentioned the slashed wrists on the girl he'd "done". Thank God the cops had the foresight not to release that little detail to the press, just on the off chance Mia wasn't lying about slashing her own wrists after... No one believed her.
Except Tom.
And she'd shut him out of her life when he questioned her on her "medicine" one too many times. Did she even dare to go to him now? What would his reaction be? Sure they'd been inseparable ~ like brother and sister before, but now...?
Mia had to take the chance. She threw on a Boston U hoodie over her pajama pants, slid her feet into some flip-flops, and walked the few blocks to Tom's place. She stood in front of the door for a long moment before she got up the nerve to knock. She bit her lip and shifted from foot to foot, looking up when he opened the door.
"Hey..." she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I... You were right... I need help."
Mia Harding
Original Character